Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Cllrs Alexander, and Cllr Amin substituted for Cllr C. Harris. 

It was requested that as far as possible clashes of this body with other meetings be avoided in the new municipal year.

The Chair will consider the admission of late items of urgent business. Late items will be considered under the agenda item they appear. New items will be dealt with at item 10 below. New items of exempt business will be dealt with at  item 14 below.

There were no items of urgent business.

A member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest at the commencement of that consideration, or when the consideration becomes apparent.

A member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the member’ judgement of the public interest.  

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on 25 January 2010.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 25 January 2010 be agreed as an accurate record.

Leaflet setting out mechanisms by which CiC can raise concerns/make complaints: a revised draft would be with members within the next two weeks.

Re-offending rates for CiC: officers reported difficulties in obtaining figures for Haringey. It was noted that all agencies involved had different systems.

Agreed:

1. That figures be obtained manually and provided for the next meeting, and thereafter provided periodically.

2. That the report include strategies that are being taken to reduce re-offending amongst CiC.

3. That the Deputy Director Children and Families discuss with the police the difficulties of obtaining this data.

Information on the number of pregnancies amongst CiC:

Agreed:

That information be provided to be sent out with the minutes of this meeting.

Structure chart for CYPS

Agreed:

That information be provided to be sent out with the minutes of this meeting.

In housing fostering – retention rates of carers and breakdown of number and types of carers.

Agreed:

That a report be presented to the next meeting

This report outlines the proposed changes to the in-house fostering service which are intended to improve both recruitment of foster carers and the service itself.

The Committee considered a report setting out proposals, following a review by an independent consultant, for a restructuring of the fostering service. The value of good in house foster carers was recognised as important in achieving the best outcome for children in care. A review was also considered necessary as there had been difficulties in reaching the local performance targets for recruitment of new foster carers and in providing excellent support to existing carers. Additionally the number of carers had fallen due to deregistration and retirement of foster carers. Members considered that information was needed as to when and why  carers did not continue.

Details of the proposed new arrangements were discussed. The aim was to have a dedicated team responsible for recruitment. An action plan would be produced to address the issues of working practice, communication and poor environment. It was accepted that the link between the fostering and placement services needed to be strengthened and that there should be better matching and stability for looked after children. The placement service would become responsible for all the steps in the placement process for in house placements. Also the placement service was moving to 40 Cumberland Road. There was to be a change in designation for the head of the service to reflect commissioning responsibilities. Also it was proposed to amalgamate the under and over 11s teams into one team focussed on support, stability and retention of foster carers. There was still a discussion to be had around whether the private fostering service should be located within safeguarding.

There was also to be a review of the advertising for new foster carers to ensure that recruitment was more effective. It was noted that joint advertising with other boroughs was being explored through a North London consortium.

RESOLVED:

·      That a further report be presented in three months on the functioning of the fostering service and on the difference that the restructuring has made.

·      That the structure chart be re-circulated in landscape form.

·      That a report be presented to the next meeting on the advertising campaign, setting out the number of responses, visits, tracking of applications and retention strategies and then a further report be presented in six months in order to assess progress.

To provide a monthly update of performance monitoring activity in relation to Children in care.

The Committee considered a report setting out the January performance monitoring data in relation to CiC within the Children and Families service.

A note of caution was given in respect of comparisons with other boroughs and national averages because the figures for Haringey were accurate to the month whereas those of others were as of March 2009.

In response to concern over the low numbers of CiC with a Personal Education Plan (PEP) in place and the low numbers that were up to date, officers advised that greater input from schools would help to address this and that it was likely that more PEP’s had been done but the system had not been updated. This matter would be addressed. Also as Haringey had adopted the London PEP it should be easier to get better quality of information through better input from teachers and social workers. The new system which had gone live on 15 February 2010 would enable the Committee to track the process and receive regular progress reports.

Members sought a breakdown by age of the number of CIC who had received health assessments and dental checks over the previous 12 months. Also the Committee felt that it would be useful to have figures on the number of 19-24 year old care leavers in Education, Training or Employment.

Particular concern was raised over who was responsible for a 13 year old who had committed an offence whilst missing from care. It was noted that there were policies and guidance in place for when CIC go missing.

A new quality audit framework had been developed and the first audits started under the new arrangements from October. It was noted that  there would be monthly audits, which would either be themed and or generic .

RESOLVED:

·        That the report to the next meeting contain a breakdown by age of the percentage who had had health assessments and dental checks within the previous 12 months.

·        That an update to the July meeting be provided on the number of 19-24 year old care leavers in Education, Training or Employment.

·        That a report be presented setting out the breakdown of responsibility of care for those children missing from care and anonymous case studies be provided.

·        That the Chair be provided with specific information in relation to the 13 year old referred to in the report.

·        That a presentation be given to the next meeting on the operation of the new quality audit framework and specific information be provided on the CiC inspection cases carried out between October and December 2009

This report sets out the proposal to establish a Head for the Virtual School for Children in care.

Further to the previous meeting further consideration was given to the proposals for a “Virtual School”. A virtual school would rigorously track the schooling of every child in care, making sure that schools knew when they had a child in care and that the school put in place appropriate additional targeted support.

Details of the staffing and the aims for the Virtual school were noted. There was a discussion around the membership of the governing body and in particular representation from this Committee. It was noted that all schools had to have a designated teacher for CiC.

The Committee were pleased to note that 10 primary schools had received bespoke training and 29 people, either designated teachers or SENCO’s, had signed up for attachment training.

Information was provided on the extensive range of culture and leisure activities planned for CiC this term, all of which had specific educational related outcomes.

RESOLVED:

1.                                                                          1. That the Governing body include two former CiC.

     2. That the Governing body include two Corporate Parent Governors      appointed by this Committee.

3.  That the link to the DFCS website documents on attainment of LAC   in primary and secondary schools be e-mailed to the Committee.

4. That a progress report be presented to Committee in June/July.

To set out initial arrangements for a Haringey Stocktake.

The Committee were advised of proposals for a stock take event to be held in Haringey to replicate the ministerial stocktake overseen by the Secretary of State held in Autumn 2009.

Tottenham Hotspur Foundation had agreed to host the event, which it was agreed would be held on either 22 May or 12 June 2010. There would be two sessions, one for 7-11 year olds and one for 12 years and over. It was agreed that views of Year11’s would be sought over the phone as this was a crucial time for GCSE’s. Attendees would be asked about their experiences of care, the quality of their placement, contact with their families, and frequency they saw their social worker.  It was hoped that the event would be an enjoyable one and each group would be offered a tour of the stadium and facilities and given refreshments.

Following the event officers would produce an action plan which this Committee would oversee and monitor progress.

RESOLVED:

That following confirmation from Tottenham Hotspur Foundation on availability of premises officers confirm the date for the event.

To consider any items admitted at item 2 above.

There were no new items of urgent business.

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for consideration of the items below as they contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985): paras 1 & 2: namely information relating to any individual, and information likely to reveal the identity of an individual.  

RESOLVED:

That as items 13 to 14 contained exempt information (as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government 1972; namely information likely to reveal the identity of an individual, and information relating to any individual) members of the press and public should be excluded from the remainder of the meeting.

This report outlines the range of support available to assist with children in care with challenging behaviour, and gives some examples of the type of needs that are being met.

This report set out the range of support available to assist children in care with challenging behaviour. Details of general support and placements was given, together with information on specific support.

Examples were given of individual children with a range of needs that the service was trying to meet. It was noted that girls were just as challenging as boys. The Committee were informed that Child B was receiving counselling but was resistant to any support. Particular concern was expressed over Child E and the members questioned the procedures and timescales at which a child should be removed from its mother. It was noted that this particular child was probably going to be placed in a residential unit, for up to a year.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee be provided with details of the support given to the cases identified in the report.

To provide a verbal update on safeguarding issues pertinent to the remit of the Committee.

There were no new cases reported.

To consider any items admitted at 2 above.

 regulation 33 visits

Concern was expressed over suggested proposals to change the current arrangements for Regulation 33 visits. The Deputy Director explained that he was although he was confident that there were sufficient resources in house to carry out a rigorous scrutiny, there were concerns over the follow up actions. The Chair explained that it was important to carry out benchmarking and that reports and issues of concern were reported to this Committee.

Agreed:

1.      That the possibility of swapping visits with another Authority be explored.

2.      That the Deputy Director meet urgently with the two Councillors at present carrying out Reg 33 visits to explain the current position regarding visits and the 2 homes

MUSWELL HOUSE

Agreed:

1.   That a report on the current staffing position be presented to the next meeting.

3.                                                                             

4.                                                                2.   That officers investigate any backlog of paperwork

Date of next meeting : 12 April 2010

RESOLVED:

That the following items be included on the agenda for the next meeting:

• CiC who go missing - breakdown of responsibility of care for those children missing from care and anonymised case studies be provided.
• New quality audit framework and specific information on the CiC inspection cases carried out between October and December 2009
• In house fostering -Retention rates of carers and breakdown of numbers and types of carers. Also details of advertising campaign to be included
• Re-offending rates and Strategies in place to reduce re-offending of CiC

DATE OF NEXT MEETING: 12 APRIL 2010